Fight Motorcycle Theft
MAG asks the next Government to review vehicle theft sentencing guidelines, and to police motorcycle theft effectively.
Theft of motorcycles is a subset of all forms of vehicle theft. MAG research shows that riders are vastly and disproportionately impacted by vehicle theft. Of all reported stolen vehicles in 2021, around a quarter were motorcycles despite motorcycles comprising only 3% of registered vehicles: https://wiki.mag-uk.org/images/f/f4/Motorcycle_Theft_in_Perspective.pdf
Motorcyclists can face loss of their primary transport, emotional trauma and in some cases physical harm from armed thieves. Additionally, the impacts of this theft are felt not just by the primary victim of the crime. The entire riding community is hit by escalating insurance costs, and wider society faces the very real impact from anti-social use of motorcycles and related road casualties. In 2023 five of nineteen motorcyclist fatalities were linked to stolen motorcycles. In July 2023 a seven-year-old girl was killed in Walsall, having been struck by a stolen motorcycle.
Government must show leadership and a will to tackle this issue. There are many elements to a robust response. Policing is an obvious starting point, but many more stakeholders must be co-ordinated in a joined-up approach. This can be achieved only if led by a government that acknowledges the issue and commits to tackling it.
Solutions include better built-in security measures in motorcycles, plentiful fit-for-purpose secure parking provision, prioritisation of a more robust police response leading to increased disruption of offending and conviction of offenders, allied to a thorough review of the social response to motorcycling and the structure and strength of sentencing. No single solution will solve the problem, and a coordinated response must be applied.
MAG campaigns for local authorities to deliver secure parking facilities and pushed the issue in the elections for Police and Crime Commissioners. We provided platforms for PCCs and police forces to engage with riders up and down the country. MAG works with the Motorcycle Crime Reduction Group and directly with police forces at a local level, but the overall response remains patchy at best.
We need the next Government to lead an effective response bringing together all stakeholders in a shared plan. This requires a government that is prepared to Move on Motorcycling.
MAG is asking riders in the UK to get creative in their approach to placing motorcycling in the general election discourse. The ‘Act Now’ page recently added to the MAG website offers a template letter for riders to use when asking candidates for their views on motorcycling issues. Please visit the ACT NOW page now to see how you can get involved.
Current Action
The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) can see potential for a big drop in motorcycle theft in the coming four years. MAG has secured a cohort of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) candidates willing to make the Fight Motorcycle Theft Pledge.
Gold, silver, and bronze ratings have been applied to all candidates who are talking about motorcycle theft, and how they propose to tackle the issue. Those who have not engaged at all have no rating. To find out if your PCC has pledged view the full list here: https://wiki.mag-uk.org/images/7/7b/2024_PCC_Candidates.pdf
Fight Motorcycle Theft Meetings
MAG are hosting a series of meetings across the UK in an attempt to combat motorcycle theft. These hustings style meetings bring together local police, local Politicians and local councils to give the public their chance to make suggestions about what can be implemented to tackle the problem. MAG has already delivered 6 successful public meetings aimed at raising the profile of the fight against motorcycle theft. Gillingham in Kent, Birmingham, Hertfordshire, Manchester, Hull and Leeds have seen meetings earlier this year with riders given the chance to hold the authorities to account. The previous meetings have seen tangible outcomes, and the hope is that the next meetings will be equally effective.
Kent- 15/03/23
Hertfordshire-14/06/23
Hull- 21/10/23
London- 26/02/24
Cardiff-TBC
Birmingham-15/04/23
Manchester-21/09/23
Leeds-11/11/23
Nottingham- TBC
Edinburgh-TBC
If you would like to be informed of event dates and locations when they are announced, or have suggestions of new areas to be covered please email central-office@mag-uk.org
If you have never been a MAG member, have let your membership lapse, or are thinking you need to save some money by not renewing this year, we would love you to join, re-join or stay with us. If, like us, you are passionate about motorcycling, want to see motorcycling continue in the future, and want to preserve all that you love about it, we hope it will be an easy choice to make. MAG’s strength is in numbers. The riding community can demonstrate strength when it unites. If you want to say you played your part to defend motorcycling, please… join MAG today